HO Alt. vs new battery

[herbykw 10+ year member]

I have a bit of a problem, got my amp and subs in and i think its killing something, either my alt or battery, hell maybe both. I am running a MA Audio HK802SX to two Kicker L7 15"s. It is wired to run at 2ohm, 800watts rms per channel. It works great. I have the gain pretty far down, and keep the bass down and watch to make sure i dont drop my voltage. Well today, with the stereo off, my volt meter on my dash dropped down to about 9 volts when i turned my AC on. It sits at 12v with nothing on.

So this gives me a couple questions.

Is this my battery or alt going out? both?

running around 1600wrm, what size HO Alt would i need?

if i get too big of a HO Alt will it hurt anything?

know a good place to get a HO Alt at a low price?

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[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like it might be the battery, but upgrading both would be a great idea, especially if you think you might go bigger with your substage in the future.

Mean Green makes an amazing alternator, had one in my Jeep for over two years and never had a single problem with it.

 

[da box king 10+ year member]

mechman

 

[herbykw 10+ year member]

any suggestion of what size? 180a? 200a? 160a?

 

[headlesskoopa 10+ year member]

I say go with the 200 if its available for ur car . That way u dont have re-upgrade. Thats if the prices are in the same ballpark

 

[Ali1 10+ year member]

HO Alt > battery

 

[headlesskoopa 10+ year member]

I just relised what amp u got they like power .

 

[herbykw 10+ year member]

what kind of info do i need to know about the alt? other then amps? any other technical info? voltage? i searched through other topics and people are talking about internal and external voltage regulators. How hard is it to get the proper HO Alt?

 

[GMCJimmyslt2000 10+ year member]

what kind of electrical upgrades do u have now? What size wire are u running.

with that type of power, u need at least some 0/1 guage wire.

If u have the stock batt still in, u need to upgrade that, get a kintek, deka, optima or something equivelant to that.

Also with all that power, do the big three with at least 4 gauge.

If u still have voltage problems, upgrade ur Alt to the biggest possible, just incase for future upgrades.

 

[MECHMAN 10+ year member]

There is no such thing as too big of an alternator, an alternator will only produce what is necessary, they are self-regulating. When shopping for a high output alternator, make sure you find out what the unit puts out at idle. The farther you "overwind" a given size of alternator, the less that unit will put out at idle. In other words, unless you go to a physically larger alternator, you will need to rev the engine up some in order to get the increased output.

Upgrading your battery will help tremendously also, I would be prepared to do both, especially fo feed that power-hungry MA amp.

If you are looking to start small, you could do an additional audio battery right next to the amp such as this one: http://mechman.com/store/product_info.php/cPath/1/products_id/35

It is quick and easy to install, and it would make a big difference for only $139.

 

[herbykw 10+ year member]

a friend of mine put a ho Alt in his car and it was shutting his cars computer down. He put the stock replacement in and it worked great. I checked my battery fluid and it was EMPTY. Filled it up, but I think it was too late. Didnt help. I think for now I will do the big three ands better battery. If my battery is still good then I will order the HO Alt

 

[DidUHearThat? 10+ year member]

You haven't even done the Big3?

To run that monster of an amp you will need to 1) do the Big3, 2) at least one great battery (several would be better) and 3) a HO alternator.

You must do all 3, no maybe about it. The weakest link will be what limits your amp power and kills your electrical.

Why do people get giant amps but not think thru thier power needs? If you don't have the charging system to power that amp, then you wasted your money on that thing and a smaller amp will give you the same power. Your wattage is limited by your electrical system. If you hooked up 10 of those amps you would still have exactly the same output, because you still have a weak electrical system.

 

[kovemaster559 5,000+ posts]

MA audioa hk amps are very hungry. i say 220 alt if you can so you could realy see what the amp is about(i ran the hk401sx and had fun with it great amps very powerful

 

[GMCJimmyslt2000 10+ year member]

will u answer this questions first

what kind of electrical upgrades do u have now? What size wire are u running.

with that type of power, u need at least some 0/1 guage wire.

If u have the stock batt still in, u need to upgrade that, get a kintek, deka, optima or something equivelant to that.

Also with all that power, do the big three with at least 4 gauge.

If u still have voltage problems, upgrade ur Alt to the biggest possible, just incase for future upgrades.

 

[herbykw 10+ year member]

I know its a strong amp, I am running it at less then half power. I has my Alt and battery tested and my battery was bad. I replaced it with a optima yellow top. When I get some more money I will order the HO Alt. I talked to the owner of one of the good car audio shops and he said the big three done do much unless you get a bigger Alt. So I will do both at the same time.